Communication on Progress

Participant
Published
  • 02-Dec-2021
Time period
  • January 2020  –  December 2020
Format
  • Stand alone document – Basic COP Template
Differentiation Level
  • This COP qualifies for the Global Compact Active level
Self-assessment
  • Includes a CEO statement of continued support for the UN Global Compact and its ten principles
  • Description of actions or relevant policies related to Human Rights
  • Description of actions or relevant policies related to Labour
  • Description of actions or relevant policies related to Environment
  • Description of actions or relevant policies related to Anti-Corruption
  • Includes a measurement of outcomes
 
  • Statement of continued support by the Chief Executive Officer
  • Statement of the company's chief executive (CEO or equivalent) expressing continued support for the Global Compact and renewing the company's ongoing commitment to the initiative and its principles.

  • To our stakeholders:

    I am pleased to confirm that A1 Hrvatska as a part of A1 Telekom Austria Group reaffirms its support of the Ten Principles of the United Nations
    Global Compact in the areas of Human Rights, Labour, Environment and Anti-Corruption.
    In this annual Communication on Progress, we describe our actions to continually improve the integration of the
    Global Compact and its principles into our business strategy, culture and daily operations. We also commit to sharing
    this information with our stakeholders using our primary channels of communication.
    Sincerely yours,

    Jiři Dvorjancansky
    Chief director and Board member

Human Rights
  • Assessment, policy and goals
  • Description of the relevance of human rights for the company (i.e. human rights risk-assessment). Description of policies, public commitments and company goals on Human Rights.

  • Having joined the UN Global Compact, the A1 Telekom Austria Group is committed to implementing fundamental requirements in the areas of human rights, labor, the environment and combating corruption. A1 is committed to create a diverse workplace for all its employees at all levels – from technical support, to sales including all managerial levels. Additionally, we want to make sure that every employee is equally enabled to deliver quality work, thus giving them the same opportunities
    to advance in their careers, regardless of their identity, background or private life choices. Therefore, we are working on shifting and adapting all of our processes in order to promote diversity, inclusion and equity within our organization.

  • Implementation
  • Description of concrete actions to implement Human Rights policies, address Human Rights risks and respond to Human Rights violations.

  • The COVID-19 pandemic was the main issue we wanted to tackle during 2020. The first lockdown in Croatia started on March 21st, 2020, and it marked a need for a quick shift to a work from home schedule. In A1 Hrvatska, we empowered our employees to be able to work from home during 2018., when we introduced Flexi Time and Flexi Place programs, which allowed employees to choose days in the week when they want to work from home and manage their working hours via a flexible/sliding schedule.
    When the lockdown began, in order to ensure their safety, we managed to make a very swift switch to a work from home environment. We wanted to empower the employees even further, we kickstarted a support group where everyone could list all the office supplies and furniture they need for their home offices. Our logistics department provided them with everything they needed.
    With the lockdown and isolation taking a toll on people’s mental health, we kickstarted a special group on our Facebook Workplace platform. The group and the following programmes were aimed to approach employees via three pillars - StayConnected, StayHealthy and StayPositive.
    Via those programmes, we accommodated psychologists and experts to discuss topics of mental health and gave tips and tricks on how to keep a positive outlook in a difficult situation as the lockdown. Guests from other companies shared their experiences when adapting to the COVID-19 situation and the company leadership had frequent voice calls with employees to ensure everyone is being taken care of.
    Next to those COVID-19 specific programmes, we continuously enforced our policies on gender equality, with internal policies that ensure equality, as well as external campaigns that aim to motivate women to join into the STEM field and work in it. We are aware that mothers working in STEM have a lot on their hands, so we introduced the Flying Nanny initiative, which allows them to have more time on their hands during winter holidays. Via the initiative, children had age adequate STEM workshops, which allowed parents within our company to get some extra time for relaxing while their children attended the educations.

  • Measurement of outcomes
  • Description of how the company monitors and evaluates performance.

  • By improving the benefits that facilitate the balance of business and private life and provide everyone with equal opportunities for growth and development within the company. We offer equal development and opportunities to all employees by meeting their current life needs. Inclusion promoted within and outside the company by cooperating with a growing number of companies that employ people with disabilities.

Labour
  • Assessment, policy and goals
  • Description of the relevance of labour rights for the company (i.e. labour rights-related risks and opportunities). Description of written policies, public commitments and company goals on labour rights.

  • In some countries in which the A1 Telekom Austria Group operates, national laws can make it difficult to ensure that human rights are respected absolutely. Where national law diverges from the A1 Telekom Austria Group’s commitment to human rights and sets a lower standard, the Group always endeavors to achieve the higher standard, though the wellbeing of employees is the top priority. In the event of a conflict, the A1 Telekom Austria Group applies national law, at the same time attempting to respect human rights as much as possible.

    Human rights complaints can be submitted on the compliance whistleblowing platform “tell.me” – even anonymously if so desired – and are carefully processed in conjunction with compliance processes.

    The company conducts anti-corruption policy which is incorporated in internal documents, and all employees undergo anti-corruption training immediately after employment in A1 Hrvatska as a part of A1 Telekom Austria Group. Anti-corruption policy and processes are given to all business partners, and are actively implemented during cooperation.

  • Implementation
  • Description of concrete actions taken by the company to implement labour policies, address labour risks and respond to labour violations.

  • Human rights complaints can be submitted on the compliance whistleblowing platform “tell.me” – even anonymously if so desired – and are carefully processed in conjunction with compliance processes.

    The company conducts anti-corruption policy which is incorporated in internal documents, and all employees undergo anti-corruption training immediately after employment in A1 Hrvatska as a part of A1 Telekom Austria Group. Anti-corruption policy and processes are given to all business partners, and are actively implemented during cooperation.

    Even from our vendors we are asking to confirm that they follow the principles of sustainability respecting the human rights of their employees and not supporting child labor.

  • Measurement of outcomes
  • Description of how the company monitors and evaluates performance.

  • We are implementing concrete measures through continuous education and improvement of working conditions and rights,

Environment
  • Assessment, policy and goals
  • Description of the relevance of environmental protection for the company (i.e. environmental risks and opportunities). Description of policies, public commitments and company goals on environmental protection.

  • In A1 Hrvatska, as well in A1 Telekom Austria Group, in accordance with the European Green Deal, we invest in environmentally friendly technologies and encourage innovation with the aim of reducing the carbon footprint to reach complete neutrality by 2030.

  • Implementation
  • Description of concrete actions to implement environmental policies, address environmental risks and respond to environmental incidents.

  • On the main A1 Hrvatska campus in the capital of Zagreb, we installed a solar power plant with a power of 30kW, which produces 35.000 kWh of electric energy annually. A part of it is used by the campus, while the surplus is being delivered to back to the electrical grid. Solar power was also installed on 44 of our base stations, which allows them to be almost completely off the grid – only 15% of their energy needs come from power generators.
    To allow those energy systems to gain even more efficiency, we introduced free cooling systems on both our Zagreb campus and 550 of our base stations throughout whole Croatia. This way, we save 808 kg of CO2 on our campus and 137 tonnes of CO2 on our base stations.
    We strive to motivate our customers to use e-bills instead of paper ones, which allows A1 Hrvatska to directly address tree cutting for paper production. During the year 2020, 45% of our customers switched to e-bills, which amounted to 27.650 trees saved annually. With constant reminders about the benefits of e-bills, we aim to increase that percentage during the following years.
    We partnered with a bike sharing company Nextbike and provided our employees with a green mean of transport in need. They can pick up a bike on numerous locations around the city (including our campus) and use Nextbike as a mean of transport between those locations.
    The removal of paper usage was also seen in our offices – by utilizing new policies, the usage of paperwork in the workspace was completely neutralized, making A1 Hrvatska a company that uses almost no paper in its processes. We also removed one use plastics from the offices – water coolers have been substituted by water filtering systems and employees were given glass bottles that they can use instead of plastic cups.
    In order to round up the projects regarding waste in offices, we implemented a smart waste bin that uses NB IoT technology and has a integrated system that compresses waste, allowing the bin to upgrade its capacity for 10 times. Every floor in our offices all around Croatia has a dedicated recycling area, where employees can sort out their waste knowing it will be disposed adequately.
    To facilitate the whole green movement even more, our e-bills contain an electronic guide on how to live a more sustainable lifestyle, with tips and tricks for our customers. We did a similar thing for our employees, who could gain knowledge on zero waste living, reducing their carbon footprint and many more useful skills via a dedicated A1 Green group on the Facebook Workplace platform. The employees who have shown the most progress were awarded.

  • Measurement of outcomes
  • Description of how the company monitors and evaluates environmental performance.

  • By saving CO2 through our network operations and efficiency programmes during the year. Last year we have saved 808 kg of CO2 on our campus and 137 tonnes of CO2 on our base stations.

Anti-Corruption
  • Assessment, policy and goals
  • Description of the relevance of anti-corruption for the company (i.e. anti-corruption risk-assessment). Description of policies, public commitments and company goals on anti-corruption.

  • As part of A1 Telekom Austria Group, A1 Hrvatska is committed to maintaining a high standard of integrity towards all its stakeholders. Only honest, fair, and transparent actions ensure the long-term economic success and reputation of the company. For us, it is important not only to achieve our goals, but HOW we achieve them. Ethically and legally impeccable behavior is everybody’s responsibility. For us, integrity is more important than short-term business success.

  • Implementation
  • Description of concrete actions to implement anti-corruption policies, address anti-corruption risks and respond to incidents.

  • A1 operates in line with the Group’s Code of Conduct which applies to all of our employees and to the entire leadership team. It contains guidelines and principles for conducting ourselves that conform to our guiding principles and the law.
    Every employee must take a mandatory e-learning compliance course, focusing on the Code of Conduct and the Compliance Guidelines. After attending the course, each employee must pass a compliance test (quiz) confirming their knowledge of the Code of Conduct and must accept our Compliance Commitment.
    At the level of the Croatia-Macedonia cluster, there is a dedicated person who deals with compliance issues.
    If they notice possible violations of rules and laws, all employees can report anonymously through the whistleblower system A1 tell.me.

  • Measurement of outcomes
  • Description of how the company monitors and evaluates anti-corruption performance.

  • A1 at the Group level also regularly conducts Compliance and Integrity survey with the purpose to learn how well compliance and integrity are embedded in our company and to identify areas for possible optimization. A number of employees across A1 countries are selected at random and invited to take part in the survey. Participation is voluntary and all answers are treated anonymously and confidentially.

    The Sustainability report of A1 Telekom Austria Group is here:
    https://cdn1.a1.group/final/en/media/pdf/A1_TAG_Combined-Annual-Report_2020-EN.pdf